Doctoral Education and Academic Research (in India)

[Excerpt] The state of doctoral education and academic research in India is poor and the country has scant representation among the world’s great universities. The decline has happened in spite of early achievements. Reasons behind this are complex and defy easy explanations. Several probable causes in terms of resources / facilities / opportunities granted to Ph.D. students, faculty quality, financial resources, academic leadership and other issues are explored and some suggestions for improvement are provided

Post‐doctoral Research

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89529/1/j.1556-6978.1965.tb00423.x.pd

Qualitative doctoral research in educational settings: reflecting on meaningful encounters

In qualitative doctoral research the methodological approach, and the research design are extremely important when ensuring the rigorousness of the work. This is particularly significant for all researchers, and even more for doctoral students who are still developing their research and analytical skills. This paper aims to support doctoral students in their research journey by highlighting some of the tensions involved in conducting qualitative research by unpicking the experiences of two doctoral students to learn from the concerns, questions and reflections on the use of qualitative methodology in their doctoral research projects. The findings reveal challenges and insights with regards to reflection, educational research and the developing identity of being a researcher. The paper discusses these reflections to support and guide doctoral students as early career researchers when planning and conducting qualitative research in educational settings

Originality in doctoral research

ORIGINALITY IS a major ingredient of doctoral research in every discipline. Doctoral students are required to demonstrate how they have contributed new knowledge to their discipline and will use their doctoral theses and, in some countries, oral examinations to demonstrate originality to their examiners. If originality is not present, the doctorate cannot be awarded. In this edition of Nurse Researcher two authors consider originality in doctoral research from two very different perspectives

A participative research for learning methodology on education doctoral training programmes

Purpose – This paper aims to outline a participative approach to researching education doctoral students’ trajectories that functions both as a form of training in research methodology and as a means of reflection on the doctoral trajectory and what doctoral students have brought to the doctoral process through their experience. Design/methodology/approach – Ten participants formed dyads and acted as both researchers and subjects of research, using narrative accounts and interviews. The collaborative approach aimed to allow “hands-on” experience of the selected methods, as well as full engagement in negotiating each stage of the project. Findings – Project group meetings and the data generated by participants provided a rich source of learning about methodological issues in education research, in addition to the personal understandings emerging from such a project. Originality/value – This project reports an approach to “hands-on” learning of methodological and ethical issues within doctoral development programmes that could be adapted for use on similar programmes. It suggests an alternative to the more common forms of doctoral training (such asexposition, discussion, reading, or simulation) that is of real value to doctoral students in that it enables deep reflection on the journeys that have brought students to doctoral study, whilst at the same time providing a rich resource for methodological learning.</p

Interdisciplinary Dissertation Research Among Public Health Doctoral Trainees, 2003-2015

Given the call for more interdisciplinary research in public health, the objectives of this study were to (1) examine the correlates of interdisciplinary dissertation completion and (2) identify secondary fields most common among interdisciplinary public health graduates. METHODS: We analyzed pooled cross-sectional data from 11 120 doctoral graduates in the Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2003-2015. The primary outcome was interdisciplinary dissertation completion. Covariates included primary public health field, sociodemographic characteristics, and institutional attributes. RESULTS: From 2003 to 2015, a total of 4005 of 11 120 (36.0%) doctoral graduates in public health reported interdisciplinary dissertations, with significant increases observed in recent years. Compared with general public health graduates, graduates of environmental health (odds ratio [OR] = 1.74; P < .001) and health services administration (OR = 1.38; P < .001) doctoral programs were significantly more likely to report completing interdisciplinary dissertation work, whereas graduates from biostatistics (OR = 0.51; P < .001) and epidemiology (OR = 0.76; P < .001) were less likely to do so. Completing an interdisciplinary dissertation was associated with being male, a non-US citizen, a graduate of a private institution, and a graduate of an institution with high but not the highest level of research activity. Many secondary dissertation fields reported by interdisciplinary graduates included other public health fields. CONCLUSION: Although interdisciplinary dissertation research among doctoral graduates in public health has increased in recent years, such work is bounded in certain fields of public health and certain types of graduates and institutions. Academic administrators and other stakeholders may use these results to inform greater interdisciplinary activity during doctoral training and to evaluate current and future collaborations across departments or schools

DOCTORAL STUDENT’S RESEARCH COMPETENCE

Uncertainties in conceptualizations of research skills and competences draw heavily on the changing process of the development of these qualities in education and the relative importance of employment at different education levels that follow the completed by students programs; these also have to meet the uncertainties in competence structure and development. While the shift to competence approach in education is thus more complex than many accounts suggest, it does have major implications for important aspects of studies and teacher and educator work. These include: skill and competence definitions, structure, developmental dynamic and kinds of activities that ensure a stage-by-stage enhancement of these qualities. Research is among the most complicated activities at universities that students and educators have to cover; doctoral studies and the acquired competences are of a special concern. The aim of this article is to trace different approaches and classifications of the 21st Century competences, define research skills and researcher competence, as well as to provide a structure and development of a doctoral student’s competence in the area of education inquiry

How does one do a Practice-Based PhD in Filmmaking?

This paper seeks to explore the issues raised by the process of engaging in a practice-based PhD in Filmmaking. As a sole practitioner the screenwriting doctoral student is able to explore her practice through the development of a screenplay, but what of the potential doctoral students who may wish to explore their specialist and professional filmmaking practices but who are unable to operate as sole practitioners, because of the collaborative requirements of the professional filmmaking model. Using the experience of the screenwriting doctoral investigation, and particularly the exploration of the relationship between methodology, exegesis and the creative artefact, we explore a potential model that would enable all filmmaking specialists to engage in doctoral research. Art students engaging in practice-based doctoral research do so in an environment formed by Government requirements that demand cultural, environmental and economic impacts as well as a methodology that to a large extent is formed by social science measures of value. Using this framework as a starting point we attempted to identify a suitable model that would enable filmmakers to undertake practice-based doctoral research

To publish or not to publish before submission? Considerations for doctoral students and supervisors

Postgraduate research education is multi-faceted incorporating the teaching of a range of skills and study behaviours. A key skill for doctoral students is that of scholarly writing that Aitchison (2009) argues is often difficult to teach, with students unclear about the standards required for doctoral work. One benchmark of standards of academic literacy is published outputs, with Kamler (2008) pressing for greater pedagogical attention to be given to writing for publication within doctoral education. However, the case for pursuing publication as part of doctoral research experience is subject to a number of variables. This discussion paper debates some of these variables to consider writing for publication within diverse doctoral education. Features of difference will be discussed to reveal that the choice of whether or not to “publish as you go” (Taylor & Beasley, 2005: 130) is influenced by the personal, disciplinary and institutional context that frames the doctoral undertaking

Entrepreneurship and UK doctoral graduates

Copyright c 2011 IP Publishing Ltd. Reproduced by permissionThis paper discusses the experience of UK doctoral graduates in pursuing entrepreneurial careers: there is evidence that this applies to a substantial number - about 10% - of doctoral graduates. The nature of their experience was explored using 37 interviews with doctoral entrepreneurs. The research was funded by Vitae (www.vitae.ac.uk), an organization championing the personal, professional and career development of doctoral researchers and research staff in UK higher education. The stories that the participants tell suggest that doctoral entrepreneurship develops out of a complex interaction between the personality and skills of the entrepreneurs and the environment in which they operate. In particular, the authors argue that the participants have mobilized a mix of financial, social and educational capital in order to create and sustain their enterprises successfully